“I didn’t believe it at all,” Smith said. “It wasn’t overconfidence. We came to play our best ball.”

One of the team’s veterans, senior tight end Randall Telfer, hardly felt better than the first-year players.

“It’s a rough loss,” Telfer said. “The offense got a little complacent. You think the ball game is in the bag. I wouldn’t say it’s luck at all (Arizona State won). We practice every day.”

Conservative again

With the defense under scrutiny for allowing 452 yards rushing against Boston College and 510 yards passing against Arizona State, the offense got somewhat of a pass recently. But it produced only one touchdown in the first half against Oregon State and Arizona State, if you take away the Trojans’ Hail Mary pass from Cody Kessler to Darreus Rogers against Oregon State.

Part of the problem could be that the game plan is too cautious. USC averaged 9.8 yards per completion against Arizona State. The Sun Devils averaged 18.9.

USC trumpets that Kessler has not thrown an interception, but how often does the passing game really challenge a defense?

“I think we missed a lot of opportunities,” Sarkisian said. “It’s easy to see the drops. We had some drops early in the game. I think Cody would like to have a couple plays back. We had some opportunities down the field to throw the ball.

“All in all, we could be much better. We’ll put together a game plan that is conducive to Cody’s skill-set, that he can be successful operating, that our receivers can feel really good about, and that as a staff, we feel good about calling those plays on game day. That’s all part of the process.”

Jackson’s play count

Jackson did not play offense against Arizona State, the first time all season he did not play both ways. Jackson spent a season-high 65 plays at cornerback and also participated in 13 plays on special teams.

Sarkisian said he expects Jackson to break a long kick return soon.

“I think Adoree is due in the kick return game,” Sarkisian said.

Colorado kickoff set

USC’s game against Colorado on Oct. 18 at the Coliseum will start at 3 p.m. and be televised on the Pac-12 Network. The game will also be USC’s homecoming.

The latest line

It might sound surprising, but USC is a 2.5 point favorite over Arizona.

“This is the most parity I’ve seen in this conference,” Sarkisian said. “This is the best I’ve seen this conference. We’re going to play the No. 10-ranked team in America, so we better be ready to play.”